45 User Reviews of Fascination Cruise Ship

A crew member named "Daniel from Indonesia" Humiliated me and
left me with a very bad memory. I made the horrible mistake of
snapping a photo of the photos posted for sale. (Photos taken
freely by the cruise's staff the night before) (I just wanted to
take a picture to relay to my wife to ask if she wanted to purchase
it)

As I knelt to snap the photo from my Iphone, I was met by
Daniel's finger in my face with a demand to "DELETE IMMEDIATLEY" I
felt embarrassed and as I tried to stand to explain my apology and
that I was only trying to confirm with my wife if she wished to
purchase the photo on display, Daniel's response was to reach for
his Walkie-talkie" and call for "SECURITY"...People looked on like
I was a criminal. I may have made a mistake by using my cell phone
to snap a photo, but I certainly didn't deserve to be treated like
this.

Daniel was over bearing and insisted on witnessing me delete the
photo. I shakenly complied with the thought of
"Security" arriving. I will never make the same
mistake. Please tell Daniel

that he needs to relax and not be a police officer hot dog.
Otherwise, I loved the cruise.

However - Carnival is a value. The housekeeping staff
is amazing. Please only report this one in cident. I
felt guilty, the rest of the staff was awesome.

I would like to commend the Carnival Cruise Lines for all the
great cruises we have taken. We are PLATINUM GUESTS. I have a
special review for the Team Head Waiter,I Ketut Sudiasta, who we
met 5 years on a cruise. This employee is efficient and makes sure
all his guests are satisfied in everyway. He is professionsl, kind,
friendly and all his guests are over whelmed and keeps in touch
with him. He is an important asset to this cruise line. We will
continue to cruise on the ships which he travels on. His ID is
#264743. We chose this cruise because Ketut would be on this
ship.

We cruise every January on this ship out of Jacksonville. I
can't believe people giving bad reviews. These guys work so hard to
please. Everything always go perfect. They make sure we have
everything we need and constantly let us know to they will help us
with anything; Room are wonderful, clean, food is great. Shows so
good. Something always going on. Can't wait until next year.

We have been on several Carnival cruises and this ship is by
fare the worst. The food was cold and the service was poor. We
pre-ordered bottled water to be delivered the first day. We finally
called guest services after midnight to find out where our water
was. They said the saw where we ordered it and had to get approval
from their manager to deliver it.

There were four in our party so we booked two connecting cabins.
One for my son and I and the other for my wife & daughter. We
requested the beds to be together for the room My son and I were
booked in as my wife and I would actually be staying in there. When
we arrived the beds were separate. When we told our steward that
the beds were supposed to be together he told us that he didn't put
them together because it was booked for a "Mr. & Mr.". I guess
gay couples can't sleep in the same bed on this ship.

One cabin still had food crumbs on the table and the other still
had dirty dishes sitting in

the window.

We went to breakfast Friday morning in the dining room. We
arrived at 8:30. Upon being seated, I noticed something wasn't
quite right with our waiter. My wife handed him the bread plate and
told him it still had food stuff on it and he said "take a
picture". He then took our order. He came back and took it 4 more
times. By this time we (along with 4 other tables) had been waiting
1.5 hours for our food. We finally requested the Maitre D. We
informed the Maitre D that the waiter was obviously drunk. The
waiter even told another passenger that he "partied to much last
night". The Maitre D dismissed the waiter and took our orders once
again. He informed us the waiter was taken for an alcohol test.

After 2 hours we finally received our food (Eggs Benedict). The
eggs were overcooked and the hollandaise sauce was hard. We noticed
that the bartenders had no issue with over-serving alcohol to
passengers. One in particular couldn't stand up and had no clue
where he was. Others on the Lido deck were obnoxiously loud and
cursing and no one did anything about it. My wife and I (and
several other people) were so disgusted by their drunken behavior
we had to leave.

The bathroom on the Lido deck smelled of urine and had no toilet
paper in it. It seemed all that Carnival cared about was making
money. There was not much to do without Carnival reaching in your
wallet for it. This crew (and obviously their leaders) needs to be
trained on customer service. A happy customer is a repeat
customer.

With living in Jacksonville we have taken many cruises on the
Fascination, 4 last year alone. Us and our friends were excited on
this cruise as I said we were celebration a 67th birthday and 39th
wedding anniversary.

Embarkation

We arrived at the terminal, the 6 of us traveled together, and
ll of the luggage was taken and marked as priority (we are all
platinum members) and we proceeded to priory check-in, We waited a
short time and were assigned our cabins and told we could go
directly to them as soon as we boarded the ship and that our
luggage would be waiting. After about a 20 minute wait we boarded
and was shown to our cabins. Two couples did indeed have their
luggage but unfortunately we didn't. Not concerned we went to the
Lido deck for lunch. We returned to the cabin approximately an hour
and half later still no luggage. We went to CS and was told our
luggage wasn't on the ship. We left and came back an our later and
was told to look in 'lost and found' again no luggage. Told again
our luggage was not

on the ship. At 3PM 2 pieces showed up at the cabin. Went back to
CS about the 3rd piece and was told again it wasn't on the ship but
they had until 6:30 to deliver it to the room! Finally at 6PM it
was delivered. Needless to say this didn't set our "special" cruise
off to a good start.

Dining

After getting on the ship we went to the Lido Deck for lunch.
Since there were long lines at the grill and buffet we decided to
have salads and sandwiches, both were wonderful. the salad
ingredients were fresh and crisp. Among the 6 of us, we tried the
corn beef, ruben, pastrami, and turkey, they all were delis!

We didn't utilize the buffet, due to long lines, but was able to
eat from the grill and it was ok but would have been better if the
food had been hot. We did have lunch in the dining room on the last
sea day and it was wonderful. It is sad that it is only open for
lunch on sea days!

We utilized room service for breakfast each day and enjoyed it
on the cabin balcony. We would recommend it

We had late dining and unfortunately our table was in the middle
of 4 tables of 10. These cruisers must have been sailing together
because they spent most of the meal going back in forth to each
others tables. With this being said we were jostled quite a bit.
(we did request another table but were told there were none
available) Our service was spotty, it could have been because of
the number of diners the wait staff was trying to serve, At times
we would have 2 courses set down at one time, items ordered mixed
up or forgotten all together, or long waits (up to 20 minutes)
between items.

Service

Service is spotty all over the ship. We went to the casino bar
and the bartender was so interested in setting up her bar that she
ignored new customers. She finally decided that they weren't going
to leave and waited on them with attitude!

In the buffet on the Lido deck the gentleman cleaning the tables
offered to get more drinks for a table with small children!

Ship Activities

There are many planned activities to do on board besides
enjoying the pools, hot tubs and deck chairs. There are many places
to quietly read or play a game. Also the casino, we did take
advantage of it and saw someone win $1600. unfortunately it wasn't
any of our group!

Entertainment

Since we have cruised a lot on the Fascination we didn't attend
any of the shows but did try to go to the comedy show but with late
dining were unable to get in.

Ports

Freeport isn't one of our favorite ports but there are
excursions that can be booked and a straw market you can go to
right off the ship for things to take home

Nassau is one of our favorite ports. We buy purses and visit
Atlantis. Great place just to wander in, just be watchful as you
would in any port.

Cabin

We had a balcony cabin,E237. Since this is a smaller ship the
cabins tend to be smaller. There is no refrigerator, so it is
difficult to keep anything cold. There is an ice bucket that is
filled twice a day and you can as your cabin steward for more. Our
steward was very attending but didn't speak english very well so my
husband was always asking after he left 'what did he say'

Disembarkation

As platinum members we do have priority disembarkation. This
went very smoothly and the luggage was very easy to find. We were
off the ship and on our way home by 9:15

I hope this helps all cruisers. Just remember you are on
vacation, not at work, so have fun!

This was my very first cruise. It certainly will not be my last.
I was swept off my feet with pampering.

I got off to a rocky start when I started to Jacksonville,
Florida, got 5 hours away and realized that I had left my birth
certificate in a red folder in my car at my friends house. We
called Carnival and they helped us make arrangements to satisfy
this catastrophe. I had planned to catch a plane back home but
fortunately they enabled me to go.

Love the water especially hot tubs.

The shows could have been targeted to a more general
audience.

The food was good and available all the time. I enjoyed our
waiter very much Santiago. He made our dining experience one to
always be remembered. He knew all our cruisers by name. He always
went out of his way to make sure we got our food and all that we
needed timely.

I enjoyed going to the Stir Up Cay Island. Nasau was OK my
daughter enjoyed Senyor Frogs. Overall it was a great affordable
vacation. The 8-10 hour car ride to get to Jacksonville Florida was
long and

tiring. Next time I think I will sail out of Charleston, SC on 6
hours away.

hello. We are recently back from a 5 day cruise to Nassau and
Half Moon Cay on the Fascination. We had a wonderful time. This was
our third cruise (me-mid 50s; my husband-same; my son-19). We have
always sailed this class (Paradise & Inspiration). Because the
ships are similar, we are comfortable as soon as our foot hits the
ship.

We had an ocean view cabin on the Riviera Deck (R20?). I was
worried because we were so far back, but it was wonderful. We think
we might have heard the anchor one morning, but it wasn't terribly
loud; if I hadn't been up already, I might not have heard it. The
room was clean and well maintained by Harvey. He slipped in and out
and each time we returned the room was picture perfect. It seems
like there is more space for storage than our last cruise in 08. My
only complaint with the room is that my son's bed had to be
"folded" up each day and, being a teenager he kind of likes his own
space to lay around. Of course, we really weren't in the cabin

all that much so it was not a major problem.

We really enjoyed the entertainment on the ship. There was a
song and dance team that did a fantastic job. I wish they had been
on more!! We also enjoyed the comedians (Cowboy, the Comedian and
John ..... Foyt? Ford?). I thought that on past cruises the
entertainment had been more varied...maybe a hypnotist or magician,
but it was either the song/dance troupe or the comedians. In any
case, we ended up enjoying them very much. We did not attend the
talent show, but when I saw some of it on the room tv I was sorry I
hadn't gone. They used one of the professional singers to "back up"
the talent and they really gave it some pizzazz. We also enjoyed
the many trivia contests and the game show type specials.

Now, for the food. It wasn't awful, but it wasn't awfully good,
either. There was always a variety, and I never went to bed hungry,
but it just wasn't all that great. We ate in the main dining room 4
of the 5 nights and the food there was slightly better. My son had
been looking forward to enjoying a steak but on the first night the
head waiter told us that steak would not be a good idea this trip.
The lobster was good and so was the salmon and the shrimp. The
rolls were always good and the chocolate melting cake was quite
good. I liked that they offered the didja ever? items as well as a
traditional menu each night (always the same) as well as entrees du
jour. The lido deck wasn't bad, either. They had lots of fresh
fruit and salad and some interesting things to try like baked fish
or stuffed baked tomatoes and there were always hot dogs and
hamburgers by the pool! The Mexican Fiesta food was very tasty and
we enjoyed the whole thing! The pizza was blah, not enough sauce or
cheese and no matter how many times my son asked for calzone and
the pizza guy said okay, my son never actually received the
calzone! That being said, we don't cruise to eat and it all worked
out fine. We'd sail Fascination again.

Ports: I had never been to Half Moon Cay and that was a big
factor in choosing this particular cruise. It was all it was
reported to be!! It was a perfect beach day. There were plenty of
chairs with soft soft sand and the water was absolutely perfect. I
had a delicious drink and the jerk chicken and variety of salads at
the luncheon barbque were very tasty. You could just sit and sun
yourself, or play in the water or take an excursion. We enjoyed the
beach and relaxed so we could get busy back on the ship! I was
pleased that they had clean bathrooms and plenty of pic nic tables
at lunch. Carnival did a great job adding to the enjoyment of the
day.

Nassau: We had been to Nassau about 30 years ago and were
disappointed by it this time (no fault of Carnival's, though). It
was run down with lots of empty buildings. And boy, was it HOT!! It
was so HOT that we actually went into Senior Frogs about 10:45 or
11 o'clock and had a refreshing drink. It was a blast. The place
was loud and fun and my 19 year old really enjoyed it. He had an
opportunity to order a LEGAL drink there and soak up the
atmosphere. Afterwards, we returned to the pier for our excursion
to tour the Dig & the Aquarium at Atlantis. The tour was very
interesting and Atlantis is just beautiful. We had a nice
afternoon, finishing our tour in time to grab a slice of pizza at
the marina before catching the bus to return to the ship. I
appreciated that while we waited for our chartered through Carnival
bus to fill up the air conditioner was on!! The bus itself was very
clean and comfortable.

We just loved our cruise. We enjoyed sitting outside (in the
shade) and being able to people watch. We enjoyed the
entertainment. Either the beds were super comfortable or we were so
busy during the day that we slept quite soundly and peacefully at
night!! One morning we woke up to find some water on the bathroom
floor. We told our steward and after he apologized for the
inconvenience, he got someone in to take care of it right away.
When we returned to the cabin 3 hours later you'd never know there
had been any problem at all.

We were pleased with how friendly everyone was. While walking
through the hallways to get to our cabin each and every steward
made sure they said hello AND SMILED!! what a way to start my day!
The head waiter of our section came by every night to make
recommendations and after dinner to see how everything was. The
server remembered us by name (and by drink!). They were all
terribly polite and did a great job.

All in all we thought the cruise was a great value for our $$$.
We particularly like that if we want to busy, there is a lot to do
and if we want to relax there's plenty of opportunity for that too.
The cruise was lots of fun and.......we wish we were still there!!
Best to all!

My husband's wallet went missing while we were visiting Half
Moon Cay. As soon as we knew it was missing, we went to the guest
services desk on board the Carnival Fascination. Since we were
already under way, there was nothing they could do but file a
report and help us cancel all the credit cards.

The next evening, the same person who took the report told us
the wallet had been located in the locker at the Sports Center. It
would be a process to get it back, but he was sure we would
eventually. We were very relieved.

After we got home, I contacted Carnival to let them know where
to send the wallet when it finally got to their office.

Imagine my surprise when I got the following response from the
Carnival "iCare" team in Miami: We truly apologize that you were
given incorrect inforamtion. At this time we have not located the
wallet. If we locate the wallet you will be contacted. We truly
apologize for any miscommunication there may have been.

It's bad enough to lose your wallet while you're in a foreign
country, but being flat-out

lied to is adding insult to injury. We won't be cruising with
Carnival again, neither will we recommend them to anyone. There are
plenty of other cruise lines to choose from.

Cruise: Carnival Fascination. May 3 - May 7 out of Jacksonville,
Florida Ports: Freeport, Nassau Weather: Smooth, almost like
"glass" at times. Why this particular cruise? Hadn't cruised since
2008 due to medical restrictions. Cruise port 70 miles from home.
Wanted a short/easy cruise to get back into cruising. Cruise
History: Carnival Celebration - 11/04, 11/05, 02/07, 05/12 Carnival
Fantasy - 05/03 Carnival Glory - 12/07 RCCL Mariner of the Seas -
03/08 Celebrity Constellation - 02/06 Food: Breakfast – Enjoyed
breakfast each day in the Sensation restaurant. Good Service/Food
Lunch - Liddo Desk. Good Salad Bar. Hot bars were ok but nothing to
"write home about" Pizza and Sandwich (Deli) bar were good. Often
found ourselves getting our food from here. Dessert/ice cream bar
were good. Dinner - Sensation Dining Room. F irst two nights was
very good. Last two nights was good but no "WOW" factor. Desserts
were great. Chocolate Melting Cake is a must!! Great Head Waiter
and his staff. Cabin: Since this was our first cruise in 3 years,
we splurged and got a Suite Cabin, Mid Desk on 6th floor. Was a
very nice room with a

large balcony and a whirlpool tub. Very efficient air conditioner!
Had to cut down as I was getting "COLD". Cabin Steward was great.
This was our 8th overall cruise and this is the first one that I
can remember that our Cabin Steward remembered our names and always
greeted us by our names throughout the cruise. Ports: Freeport –
Did not get off the ship. Sitting on our balcony, witnessed a barge
tie up right below us, next to ship and proceeded to "fuel up" the
Fascination. Also was able to witness the Celebrity Millennium
receiving an upgrade. Nassau. Wanted to check out Atlantis but
ultimately decided to visit on our next cruise. We decided to walk
around Nassau on our own. Checked out some stores selling liquor to
compare prices vs those on the Fascination and found Fascination's
prices were better in most cases. Entertainment - Evening shows
were good. Female lead vocalist was a lot better than the male
singer. Attended one comedy show. Comedian got me to laugh a couple
of times although wished the show was longer than 30 minutes. "Wine
tasting". $10 per person. Had 6 different wines to taste with
different condiments i.e. Cheese, crackers, fruit. Found very well
presented and learned a lot about wine "paring" with different food
types. Embarkation – Hadn't really realized when we reserved a
"SUITE" cabin this included VIP check in. We were led to a separate
room with plenty of seating and refreshments to enjoy while we were
personally checked in. Had requested a wheelchair for one in our
party and had a Carnival representative meet us with a wheelchair
and stayed with us until we were settled on the ship Debarkation –
Requested wheelchair assistance for one person in our group.
Passengers requesting wheelchair assistance are met in the main
lounge by a Carnival Representative with wheelchair. Representative
stayed with us and pushed the wheelchair until we cleared customs.
Those not using "Self Assist" began debarkation about 1 hour after
the first call for "Self Assist" and may find yourself waiting to
get an elevator if you do not choose to use the stairs. Special
Needs. Requested wheelchair assistance for embarkation and
debarkation. Both times, Carnival provided a wheelchair and a
representative to push the wheelchair. On the second full day of
the cruise, requested the use of a wheelchair while docked in
Nassau. Upon checking, you can "rent" a wheelchair and you the full
cruise rate no matter which day of the cruise you are on or if only
need for one day. Rental rate is $80 and a $50 deposit which you
get back when you return the wheelchair. We did bring along our own
oxygen bottles. You are able to keep one bottle in the room with
you. The others are stored on the ship. When we needed a new oxygen
bottle we called the Customer Service desk and we were able to pick
one within 30 minutes. I'm sure they will deliver to the room but
thought it would be quick to go pick one up ourselves. When picking
up a new oxygen bottle you must turn over your empty one for
storage. NOTE: Before embarkation, suggest you remind the staff at
the front desk that you have oxygen bottles in storage and that
they be available for pickup when you debark. Once we got down to
the luggage pickup area we mentioned to a Carnival representative
we needed to pick up some oxygen bottles and they went and brought
them to us promptly.

Incidentals: Parking: Available at the port for $15.00 a day.
There is a private parking service located at the port entrance
that I believe charged $7/8 per day. Have to park there and take
their shuttle to the cruise port. Jen was the cruise director for
this cruise Courtesy to other passengers. While in Nassau, the
posted reboarding time to the ship was 05:30 pm with a 6 pm
departing. Around 05:45 pm we went out to our balcony to rest and
view the ship leaving port. Given this was 15 minutes after the
requested reboarding time, we still noticed individuals, couples
nonchalantly walking down the pier toward the ship like they had
all the time in the world to get back. Security staff had actually
walked down the pier area trying to get folks to hurry up and get
back on board. Had one woman who stopped at the gang plank and let
security know she was going to finish a cigarette before she got
on. Around 05:55 pm I saw this one gentleman if you can picture
this literally stumbling down the pier area, red as a "beet",
stopping now and then and bending over like he was going to puke.
Security was waving and asking him to hurry up and he just
proceeded to yell back at them.

Final View. Would I take this cruise again - Yes Met my
expectations – Yes Can't beat the value for what you pay.

My husband and I have cruised 17 times and all on Carnival. We
have always enjoyed our cruises, the destinations and the food. On
May 7, 2011 we cruised on the Fascination - an older ship. Our Room
was V16 and was billed as a suite. This is NOT a SUITE! I think
they call it a mini suite, because they include a mini frig/bar in
the room. That is it ! ! Be aware they charge you for a "mini"
suite, when in fact it is smaller than a balcony on most ships. The
balcony is so small, you can't turn the chairs around and both of
you sit on the balcony comfortably. The balcony on the Veranda
"Suites" overlook the deck below. It was not ideal. My husband did
not even sit out once!! because of the size, and he is over 6 feet
tall. If you do book a room in this category, be prepared to be
disappointed with the balcony and the room. There is no whirlpool
tub or separate dressing area, as there are in other suites, on
other ships. My sister and husband

tagged along this time, and got an ocean view room U182, that
sleeps 4 supposedly.

It also was the tiniest room with 2 wall cots, no sofa, and
extremely small!They had never cruised before, that the room was a
great disappointment to them. That said...we enjoyed our stops at
Half Moon Cay - one of the prettiest beaches we have ever seen;
Grand Turk - another pretty beach, and Nassau. We were also
disappointed that the Atlantis Paradise hotel now block visitors
from visiting their lobby/aquarium area. You can gamble in their
hotel, but don't try and venture anywhere. You get stopped. If we
came to Nassau again, we would do a tour or find something else to
do other than going over to Atlantis. To spend time at their water
facilites, the prices are very extravagant if you are not looking
to spend a pile of money.

All in all trip was lovely..we enjoyed the water slides on the
back of the ship..and the deck entertainment during the days. We
are not drinkers so we don't spend a fortune on drinks...and we are
also giving up soda too for our health!! so we don't buy a soda
card anymore either! We enjoyed the pizza, deli sandwiches and the
dining room at night serves lots of selections for dinner. If you
can't find something you like, we would be surprised! We would not
sail this ship again, however - but we would said Carnival
again.